Insurrection In the USA...What Would Jesus Do?

 

I have been extremely troubled over the past several days. Truth be told I have been troubled for many months and years over our country’s steady devolution of civility and discourse. I was upset to see our Capitol overrun by MAGA supporters, carrying confederate flags around as they wreaked havoc on our sacred institution. I was aghast to see members of congress terrorized for doing their constitutional duty of formally certifying the counts of the states’ electors. Yes, that roiled a visceral anger within me. However, I found myself most troubled to see someone running around the floor of the Senate with the white, blue, and red, Christian flag. Initially, I did not quite understand why I was so disturbed by that image. As I pondered why, I realized it was because I cannot understand how my Christian brothers and sisters can look at what was taking place in the Capitol, as being something that my Lord and Savior would be pleased with.

As a lifelong conservative, I do understand where many of my Trump supporting, Christian brothers and sisters are coming from. I share some of the concerns about where we might be headed under Marxist ideologies that seem to be proliferating in the Democrat Party. That said, I am having a very difficult time rationalizing what happened on Wednesday as anywhere near the proper, or God-honoring response.

I fervently believe that there was no wholesale, endemic, or result-altering fraud in the 2020 election. I believe, with every fiber of my being, that there are millions of people that have been fed, and consequently buy-in to a litany of falsehoods from their dear leader, Donald Trump. Whether or not you agree with that is not really what I want to focus on. For argument’s sake, let us say that I grant the notion that the election was rigged, and that Trump won. If that were true, does that justify a Christian’s agreement and encouragement of insurrection or forceful coup? I fervently believe that the answer is NO.

Given that assessment and knowing that convincing a lot of people otherwise is next to impossible, I have wondered what I can do in hopes of moving our country towards reconciliation. Most importantly, I need to pray. I have been praying, and I have been reading about prayer. I have read and thought a lot about what prayer is, what prayer is meant for, and what God does in response to prayer. In doing that, I have reflected on the fact that at the same time I am earnestly praying that my Christian brothers and sisters will have their eyes opened what God’s true plan for His people is, many of those I am praying for are praying for me. There are most certainly people that are praying, with sincerity, that my eyes would be opened to what they see as a righteous, call to arms against an evil tyranny that must be stopped in the name of the Lord. I have been thinking about how I can reconcile that. Scripture says:

 Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

John 16:23b

I do not doubt that there is a population of Christian’s who think differently than I do, and they are diligently praying, in Jesus’ name, that other Christian’s like me would join in their certitude of a righteous cause. In response, I have been thinking about how God responds to these contradictory prayers. In both cases, I trust these prayers are asked with heart’s believing that their prayer is righteous. The Apostle John is instructive when he says:

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

1 John 5:14

The very important point in that scripture are the words, “according to HIS will.” Knowing God’s will is not easy, and I want to personally proceed with caution in trying to ascertain God’s will. I can say with a humble heart, I do not know for certain what God’s will is in our current situation. That said, I believe history and the Scriptures can offer some insights.

Palestine, during the days of Jesus, was a volatile and dangerous place. God’s chosen people had endured hundreds of years of exile or occupation from their “promised land.” At the time of Jesus’ birth, Palestine was controlled by the Roman Empire. Rome left King Herod to rule Judea without much intervention. Herod was proclaimed as the king of the Jews, and he can be attributed to several beneficial actions for the Jewish people. However, Herod was reviled by most Jews as a tyrannical king and stand-in for oppressive Roman rule. He was certainly not the answer to the hoped for reestablishment of Israel, that generations of Jewish people believed would come. Things did not improve upon Herod’s death, and Jews were pining for a “Messiah” that would set things right politically. They sought a savior who would reign as an earthy king. They believed that the Messiah would come in strength, overthrow their oppressors once-and-for-all, and establish their longed-for independent Jewish kingdom. Scripture is very clear that Jesus was not interested in being that kind of king. The Gospel of John tells this after Jesus had miraculously fed the 5000:

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

John 6:15

When Jesus was in front of Pilate, he made it clear that he did not come to be an earthy king:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:36-37

You see, Jesus was not interested in forcibly establishing some earthly, righteous kingdom as many Jews expected. Jesus was interested in establishing His kingdom in our hearts.  Paul says in Romans:

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

Jesus is interested in being the Lord of our lives, and seemingly not as interested in instituting some pious world power. Many think that the United States and world at-large have diverged down a dangerous and tyrannical road where God is being relegated to the trash bin. As bad as things seem now, it should be remembered that things were far worse in the time of the Apostle Paul who wrote in his letter to the Romans:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Romans 13:1

If there was ever an empire that acted antithetically to God’s sovereignty, it was Rome. Still, as corrupt, and perverse Rome was, Paul did not urge Christians to wage holy war against Rome, he urged them to be subject to the Roman governing authority. I believe that we are to do the same at such a time as this.

I believe that God is calling us to proclaim his name, not with the sword, but with his abundant love. I believe Paul when he writes:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Romans 8:18-21

I will continue to pray for that glory that is to come. I will continue to pray that God’s kingdom will reign in me, and that it will reign in you. I will continue to pray that God will be glorified in and through these dark days. I will pray that I will be put in a position to proclaim his salvation day after day (Psalm 96:2). I will pray that my brother’s and sister’s in Christ, who are anguished by what they see as a nation moving against God, will endeavor to institute God’s kingdom through love, not insurrection.